The Cash buyer

Richardsondawn

What sort of leverage or positives are there when buying a property as a cash buyer, how to manage the buying of a property as a CASH buyer. What is there if anything to apply in this situation?

davidmcn

No real "leverage" other than you can tell people you won't need to apply for a mortgage. Sellers are likely to accept the highest (proceedable) offer irrespective of where the money is coming from. Other parties are entitled to be sceptical about how readily you will hand over your cash until you actually do so.

Alter_ego

If you are a real cash buyer your purchase will not depend on a sale. Other than that all buyers can claim to be cash buyers.

steampowered

Chain free is a benefit, I don't think being a cash buyer is much of a benefit. You'll still have to go through the conveyancing process.

eddddy

Also, getting a mortgage arranged might take some weeks and delay the process. So a cash buyer night be able to move more quickly.

Some sellers might see that as an advantage - e.g. if their property is currently empty, or their onward purchase is well advanced.

But other sellers might not want to (or be able to) move quickly - e.g. they haven't found an onward purchase, or the chain above them isn't complete etc. So the extra speed is no benefit to them.

John_

Richardsondawn said:

What sort of leverage or positives are there when buying a property as a cash buyer, how to manage the buying of a property as a CASH buyer. What is there if anything to apply in this situation?

If you genuinely are a cash buyer, as in you have cash on deposit today, or very liquid securities able to be sold, then you’ll appear a slightly better prospect than someone who has a property to sell.

That may win you the deal if two people want to pay the same amount, or possibly even if there is a couple of thousands of pounds difference. One problem is that many people who claim to be cash buyers aren’t being honest, and it really doesn’t necessarily make the sale much more certain or much faster.

shinytop

Yes, cash buyers are proceed-able, can move fast, etc and so can be attractive to sellers.  But something that sellers don't think of is that their own negotiating position is much weaker with a cash buyer should any issues occur.  The cash buyer who is not also selling has a lot less to lose if they pull out.  This happened to us in our recent purchase; there was an issue and, having the money in the bank from our sale, we were prepared to walk if if it had't been resolved in our favour. It was.  

olgadapolga

My experience, as a cash buyer, is that sellers couldn't care less about any perceived benefits of the cash buyer who does not need a mortgage and is not part of a chain, all they are interested in is getting the highest price for their home.

Which is an understandable sentiment.

alex_163163

My cash buyer was fine all the way through until 1 day before we were originally due to exchange. It was at that point they decided they wanted to put the property in their daughters name (rather than the mother’s as originally planned). 

As there wasn’t a mortgage needed they could do this, but all ID checks etc needed to be redone causing delays, and they nearly cost me my onward purchase as my sellers were getting annoyed.

OldMusicGuy

I am a cash buyer and recently made an offer on a place recently at 6% under asking, the EA said that there was someone else interested who wasn't a cash buyer and was prepared to pay close to asking price. I played the "but we are cash buyers and there is a coronavirus crisis looming" (this was just before lockdown) and my offer was refused in favour of the other buyer (who subsequently made an offer on the property which has been accepted). I was surprised that there was zero interest from the seller in us as buyers. We were genuinely interested in the property. 

I think as a cash buyer you may be more attractive to some new build developers, especially in the current climate. You can certainly try to play that card to get some incentives, we did. 

GDB2222

If the sellers are part of a chain, they can only move at the pace of the slowest link in the chain. So, a cash buyer being able to move faster is of no benefit. Indeed, sellers may be worried about cash buyers getting impatient. However, for properties that are empty, cash is a big advantage.  

Post-lockdown, the fact that somebody does not need a mortgage is a plus I'd have thought, but maybe that hasn't sunk in yet.